Janika's Arrival
by Janika
Summary: What if someone new at Kadic Junior High accidentally discovered Lyoko thinking it was a game? What if this spunky girl was in over her head without realizing? 1st episode
1. Cousin

**_Post-production note: This series was started before season 1 was over and the 11th sequel was completed as season 2 ended, so to keep from messing up the little alternate universe I created w/ my OC I decided to base everything on season 1. In_ _other words, don't bug me about things not happening that way or whatever b/c I know it._**

**1-1: Cousin**

**This is my first attempt at submitting fanfics, so be gentle in your criticism. The only one I own is Janika, the others belong to that French thingie yadda yadda yaddah... Hope you enjoy the story.**

(((-1-)))

Janika crossed and uncrossed her legs nervously. She had only met her cousin a few times in the past and now she would practically be living with her. Until her own separating parents decided who would take custody of her, anyway.

"If they do at all," she grumped.

She seemed to be the wedge between them for nearly two months now. The more she had tried to help, the less they had acknowledged it. Even when she had backed off they seemed to blame her for everything. Why is it her sister was never blamed for anything? Maybe that's just how popular kids were, even at home. They got all the attention and everyone doted on them, not like Janika.

Idly she doodled a cheetah into her notebook, wishing she had her laptop. That was the one thing that had kept her sane during the long days in a house of constant turmoil and upheaval. Her computer provided the perfect opportunity to be creative and vent her frustrations in chat rooms and the like.

The bus slowed and finally came to a jerking halt. Janika closed the notebook and put her pencil behind her ear. Everyone was lining up and the teenager reluctantly joined the milling throng. She stepped down the ramp and looked around.

"Yoo-hoo! Nika, over here!" her cousin's familiar voice called as the girl wove her way toward Janika. "We got your luggage yesterday. It's at your dorm already and my father has your school records, but he said there were some problems with them so you won't be able to start attending school until next week."

"Thanks Sissy. It's really nice of your family to take me in. It seems like no matter what I do I get in trouble."

"Cuz, you don't know anything. _Trouble_ is my middle name! Now come on. I've _got_ to take you shopping. You look like a rag doll with that braid down your back. This _is_ the 21st century, you know. Oh yeah, these guys are Herb and Nicholas."

Sissy talked nonstop the whole time. The two boys tried to talk too, but couldn't seem to find any gap in her one-way conversation to get a word in edgewise. It was a relief to finally reach her dorm room. Janika asked about any computer clubs the school might have, but Sissy told her there were only two people in the whole school interested in them: Herb and some kid named Jeremy.

Janika gulped and told Herb she'd rather not let him near her computer. Something about him gave her the willies. But when Sissy described Jeremy as a dweeb and a goofball, she became interested. Apparently he had a computer in his room with programs he had designed himself.

She quickly ushered them out of her room and found her laptop. In less than ten minutes she had broken into the school's computer system. Her fingers worked furiously as she looked for anyone by the name of Jeremy. There were two. She found their extracurricular activities and was surprised to discover that only one had any at all. His grades were passable, but he didn't seem to have anything to do with computers. She brought up his picture. He didn't look like a dweeb, and Sissy said he was blonde. The other's photo popped up onscreen and Janika quietly congratulated herself. Phone number...room number...mailbox...everything.

She went to his floor right above her own and sat in the hall, reading a book called Eragon. It wasn't half bad. Twenty minutes later she was rewarded. A different blonde kid who looked a bit like a fruit-loop showed up and knocked on the door. He cast a curious glance her direction but she pretended to be busy reading. Jeremy answered.

"We were wondering if you'd like to go out with us for pizza. Ulrich and Yumi are waiting outside." This was better than she had imagined. He was leaving his room!

"Sure, Odd." Even his voice was dorky. "I was just talking with Aelita and everything's fine. I guess I could take some time off." Jeremy grabbed something inside and then stepped out into the hall to lock his door.

Janika quickly stood and pretended to slip. Her bookbag hit the floor and papers went flying. The two kids turned as books and papers skittered about their feet. Both of them bent down to help her as she apologized, red-faced. "Gee, I'm so sorry. I've always been a klutz."

The strange boy picked up a paper filled with cheetah drawings. "What's this?"

Now Janika's flush was real. She snatched it out of his hands and stuffed it inside her bag. "Nothing."

Jeremy handed her back the books she had dropped and she thanked him. "Don't mention it. Hey, you don't look familiar. Are you new here?"

"Sort of. I was just waiting for someone on this floor." For someone like him to leave his room unguarded.

"Oh. Well, guess we'll be seeing you."

"Sure." She watched as they left and smiled. The ploy had worked: he hadn't locked his door.

**Let me just stress it right here and now that I am _not_ going to explain the whole Lyoko business to those readers who are irresponsible enough to just jump into the mix without doing a bit of research first. That includes you, David!**


	2. Thievery

**1-2: Thievery**

**Guess what'll happen next!**

(((-2-)))

Janika slipped inside and rushed to his computer. The screensaver was strange. She'd never seen one of a digital character's face before. Maybe he had a crush on her and couldn't get a decent picture of the real girl.

She moved the mouse and stared at the program that popped up. Her jaw dropped in astonishment. Janika had never seen anything like this before! She opened and closed different links, eyes scanning for anything useful. There was one link labeled "Lyoko" she couldn't open because it required a password, but down in the corner of one program she noticed something else by the name of "Foundation."

She double-clicked on the icon and gasped. She read through the first few pages before cramming a green disk into the drive. The file was too big to save on just one, so she divided it into sections. Jeremy's computer worked fast and she had just finished saving to the second blue disk when her eye caught the time. Janika had been there for nearly an hour.

But she wasn't done! Reluctantly, she grabbed her books and shut down all the programs she had opened. The drive was in the middle of saving to the third disk and she angrily stopped it. Everything was thrown back into her bag and she rushed out of the dorm. She was almost to the stairs when the door opened outward and she crashed into three boys, two of whom were familiar. Her books went flying (again!) and she found herself in a tangled mess of arms and legs.

She moaned and rubbed her sore head. One of the boys offered his hand in extricating herself and she took it gratefully. He had light brown hair and was extremely cute. Unconsciously she started blushing. "Er...sorry."

"That's okay. Why don't you try walking instead of barreling down the stairs?"

"Sure...um..." She dropped to her knees to pick up the papers. He joined her. Jeremy and the other boy in purple did too, again. "Thanks. Again."

"No problem," the weird kid said.

The cute boy handed her the papers. "I'm Ulrich."

"That's a great name," she said lamely. Her face heated. "I'm...in a hurry. Bye!"

She barreled down the stairs before he could say anything else. How embarrassing! Could she have _possibly_ been more dim-witted? He must think she was an _idiot!_

Janika ran to her room and locked the door, breathing hard. Maybe it wasn't so bad. At least he didn't know her name. Maybe he wouldn't remember her if he didn't know her name and next time she saw him she could start over.

Calming down, she sat before her laptop and took out a blue disk. Uh oh. The girl patted her pockets and then searched her bookbag, but all she could find was the blue one! Where could it—no!

(V)

"Is she new around here?" Ulrich wondered.

"I think so, but I didn't catch her name," Jeremy said as he took out his key.

"Probably because she didn't give it," his friend laughed. Odd didn't say anything.

The computer nut shook his head. "We met her earlier. She was in the hall waiting for someone. I guess he never showed up." He inserted the key in his door and was surprised when it opened. "Huh? I thought I locked my door." He stepped inside and saw the computer. "My screensaver isn't on. That's weird." Jeremy stepped over to the computer. "And my chair isn't pushed in. What's going on? I _know_ I did that before I left."

Odd stepped up behind him. "Maybe _this_ will give us some answers," he said setting a green disk down.

Ulrich looked at his friend. "Where did you get that?"

"I was suspicious of that girl. She was running when we slammed into her. Why would she do that unless she had something to run from and I remembered seeing her waiting in the hall before we left. She didn't slip. She dropped her books on purpose to keep you from locking your door, Jeremy. When she dropped the disk out there I just picked it up."

Ulrich and Jeremy just stared at him. "So, what do you deduce from that, Sherlock?" the dark-haired boy wondered.

"Check the disk and I'll tell you."

Jeremy placed it in the hard drive and opened it. A map of the factory appeared followed by explanatory terms and other things besides. "Oh no! This was my backup copy of everything at the factory in case something went wrong."

"Well, _I_ would say something has gone wrong, Jeremy," Ulrich growled. "Who knows what she could do with this information. It might even be one of X.A.N.A.'s tricks."

"We have to find her. She must go to school here."

Odd thought about it. "She might be in some of our classes. We'll ask around for the new student, okay?"

"Great, but in the meantime, Jeremy, lock your door."


	3. Discovery

**1-3: Discovery**

**She's a bad girl, I can tell you!**

(((-3-)))

"At least I can still _kind of _remember what the other disk had on it," Janika sighed. "But now they might be after me. I'd better keep to myself. Classes don't start until Monday, so that gives me five days to figure this out before I get caught."

She took a deep breath and opened the green disk. The information it contained was mostly about some sort of game. The characters looked a lot like Jeremy's friends, but there were two girls she didn't recognize among them. Then again, one looked exactly like his screen saver and the other might have been the fourth person they met outside. Yumi or something like that.

They all had life points and different weapons. She saw a card with the fruity guy on it and noticed he looked a bit strange. He had a tail! It would be cool if she could have a character like that.

An idea blossomed in her mind. Instead of selling this stuff online like she had in the past, maybe she could play it herself before she went any farther. It really seemed intriguing. All she had to do was take one program and alter it. Easy enough with the right tools.

(V)

Dissecting the layers of programs surrounding the cards took nearly two full days. Sissy's constant visits and banter didn't help, but Janika finally pretended to be sick with some infectious disease and got some peace at last.

Once she had reached that point, it was a simple matter of replacing certain data. Unfortunately some things couldn't be altered no matter how hard the teenager tried. Her hacking abilities only got her so far. She finally resorted to swapping major data, but even that barely altered anything. She needed an actual character, but the program wouldn't let her do anything except run a vague outline drawing. Digital pictures wouldn't stick.

"This is hopeless! I've _never_ encountered such a bogus program!" she shouted in exasperation. It was like the dumb thing needed something else. Some kind of booster. "Wait a sec. The other disk had info on a factory where their mega-computer is stored. I wonder if that's where I need to go to finish this thing." She pondered it and decided that was the best course of action. "If I remember correctly, the factory is on the south side of town. Hmm...it shouldn't be too hard to get inside."

(V)

Ulrich yawned in Chemistry, bored out of his skull. Who wanted to learn about atoms anyway? He stared out the window, wishing there was some way he could get out of class. He noticed a familiar girl walking quickly through the courtyard carrying a laptop with a black cover. She was the one who'd been in Jeremy's room! That braid was unmistakable! She kept looking around nervously as though worried someone might see her.

Suddenly Mrs. Hertz was interrupted by a slight cough. Then another. And another. Ulrich's face was turning red and he kept hacking. Odd and Jeremy got permission to take him to the infirmary, but as soon as they left the classroom he told them what he'd seen.

"She was going directly toward the factory, Jeremy. I think she knows where it is. What if she does something to your computer?"

Jeremy shrugged. "I don't know what she wanted from my computer in the first place. I don't think X.A.N.A. has anything to do with her. He usually works faster than this and it's been nearly three days since we last saw her. She must have her own reasons for stealing my stuff."

"That doesn't mean she has _good_ intentions," Odd pointed out.

"You're right. Let's get to the lab."

"Yoo-hoo, boys. I thought maybe Ulrich would like someone to help him to the nurse, but I guess he's fine now." Sissy stepped closer.

Ulrich's eyebrows twitched. He tried not to yell at her. "Sissy, we need to go. Someone stole something from Jeremy and we have to catch her."

"Something? What something?" She didn't sound worried. More like annoyed that she had to listen to other people's problems.

"Nothing," Jeremy said sulkily. "Just some of my computer's files, that's all."

That seemed to ring a bell. "Computer? My cousin said she liked computers when she got here three days ago, but she's sick right now."

The boys were suddenly very attentive. "Three days ago? Does she by any chance have a long, dark brown braid?" Ulrich demanded.

"Well, yeah." Her eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to know about Janika?"

"She stole from Jeremy, _that's_ why!"

"Are you serious? Gee. Maybe she wasn't as sick as I thought."

Odd rolled his eyes. "She must be looking for the—" He stopped short as he remembered Sissy. "Let's just go find her."

They left her behind and ran for the factory. They had to catch that girl before she did anything to the lab!

**Do you think they will? Not a chance!**


	4. Activation

**1-4: Activation**

**She's just like me, only I wouldn't steal from a bunch of people I don't know. Or maybe that's just what I want y'all to think. (My Texan accent is coming out)**

(((-4-)))

It was easy enough to find the factory and even to get inside, but reaching the lower levels posed a problem. After a while of wandering around, she found a door that led down some stairs and discovered the lab. It was dark. Wasn't there supposed to be a**—**aha! A panel in the floor shifted and she made her way down the small tunnel.

She explored the scanner room and compared it with the few blueprints she had memorized. Good, good. The other place must have been the control room since it had the computer. She returned to it immediately.

Her laptop hooked up without a problem. The new card representing her appeared on the other screen. It was almost completely blank, the picture more of a drawing than anything. The teenager set up a timed program and made sure it connected. Janika punched in some random coordinates and pressed enter. She had one minute to get back down to the scanner room.

She reached the scanner just as it opened and stepped inside. Not being sure what to expect, she just decided to wing it. Hopefully it would all work out.

She closed her eyes to relax and suddenly felt a sort of lightness. Gravity faded to nothing and for a moment Janika felt like a cloud. Then she felt solid again.

(V)

As the teenager entered Lyoko, _something_ slipped through the factory. A wisp of smoky essence wound its way toward her laptop. A hiss of anger escaped from it, but the thing's thoughts flowed smoothly to a new plan. Perhaps this would work to its advantage. It melted into the smaller, unprotected computer to sift through the files there. Ideas came to it...

(V)

"If only the elevator was the only way to reach the lab," Odd sighed, "we wouldn't have this kind of problem."

"It's not like we don't need another route occasionally," Jeremy reminded his friend.

The elevator came up and all three boys got in. They got out in the lab and saw the laptop connected to the main computer by a thin cord. Jeremy sat down and typed furiously at the keys.

"Guys, that Janika created her own Lyoko identity. She's been virtualized for about ten minutes. It looks like she had a timed program to activate the scanner so she could do this on her own. Kind of ingenious. She combined the memory of her own computer to meld with ours and allow her passage despite any barriers that might arise." He stared at the other files in Janika's computer. "Hmm...I wonder how she did this. It's pretty intricate."

"Forget that, Jeremy," Odd interrupted. "Where is she?"

"The Forest Region. I can't speak to her because I don't have her personal ID code. You two are going to have to go get her. I'll contact Aelita too. She's in the Mountains. Get down to the scanners and I'll transfer you. This girl should be okay if I deactivate her link."

Jeremy unplugged Janika's laptop and got online to find Aelita. Her face appeared onscreen. "Jeremy, I've been trying to contact you but something kept blocking me."

"Aelita, we have an emergency. Someone is inside Lyoko and she doesn't know anything about it. Odd and Ulrich are on their way."

"But Jeremy, X.A.N.A. has activated a Tower! I noticed it a while ago when it interrupted the flow in another Tower. I've been looking for it but I can't seem to locate it on foot. You'll have to do that for me."

"I'll run a scan to pinpoint its location and you can meet up with them after they're virtualized."

(V)

Ulrich looked around. He could hardly stand because the ground was shaking so much. He didn't like this at all. Jeremy's voice spoke to them, "Aelita's coming and Janika, is due west of where you are now. A live Tower is also in that direction."

"_What!_" Odd cried out incredulously.

"A hacker gets in _and_ X.A.N.A. attacks. That doesn't seem very coincidental."

Aelita exited the Tower they were beside. "Here you are. Oh, these pulsations are terrible! X.A.N.A. knows we can't walk well on this terrain, but we still have to deactivate the Tower immediately!"

"Then what are we waiting for?"

All three friends started running with Jeremy keeping them on track. "Ok, guys. Janika is just up ahead. You should be able to see her now."

They looked around, perplexed. "Well we don't."

"Are you sure? You should be staring straight _at _her."

"Jeremy," Aelita said in her soft cadence, "there is no one here."

"Well, there's about to be. You have company: four Hornets are approaching from the southwest!"

"Hornets? Oh, great! I've been meaning to practice my aim." Odd turned to face his enemies.

Two headed straight for him while the other two zeroed in on Aelita and Ulrich. Lances of energy fired out and Odd backflipped to dodge them, but even so he was shot in the arm. A Hornet dove in to get a good shot and received an arrow to his bull's-eye for the trouble.

Ulrich guarded Aelita fiercely, whipping his sword back and forth to protect her from the giant insects. She hunkered behind an outcrop of rock and yeeked occasionally as shots came close. The samurai gave his war cry and leaped straight up, sword aimed. The Hornet tried to get out of range, but it was too late and went down in a fireball. The other took advantage of Ulrich's distraction and blasted a laser into his back!

Odd was having trouble too. His arrows kept missing the extremely agile bug. Poison goo coated the forest floor and made steps treacherous. He leaped away as the Hornet proceeded to fire rapidly at him.

Then suddenly without any warning, both Hornets exploded! As their ashes disappeared, the three friends looked around for the cause of their escape. Laughter echoed through the forest.

"You'd think you'd be able to take care of yourselves in your own game." Someone dropped from the tree foliage high above, leaping down on thin branches and finally landing before the stunned trio.

"You're...Janika, right?" Ulrich wondered, squinting.

"Ulrich?" Her eyes widened and she backed off, blushing fiercely. "I—I had no idea you'd be here!"


	5. It's Missing

**1-5: It's Missing**

**I really can't describe her the way I see her, but trust me here. She's a cute half-animal in a skimpy costume and that's pretty much all that matters.**

(((-5-)))

"Whoa," Odd said. "How did you get a virtual character like _that_?"

Janika looked like a cross between a person and a cheetah. She had the legs and tail of a spotted cat, but her hands and arms were normal (if you discount the tan fur) and she wore a pale cross-halter top and a short skirt as well as matching boots. Her hair was the right color, but the huge cat-ears poking up through it made her look a bit...weird. She bent down to pick up the weapons she'd thrown at the Hornets.

"I based it on you. All I had to do was combine one of my computer drawings with info on the scanner. It was a bit difficult since I wasn't sure what to expect, but it worked like a charm. See these? They're shurikens, and I have some ninja stars too. Pretty neat, huh? I used them to climb up the trees. It was easy to spy on you from up there, too."

She held up her hand to show them three 'stars' between her fingers and then reattached them to her belt. "This is so cool! Why don't you guys have anyone else who plays this game? I demolished several of those big bugs and some weird-looking boxes with legs earlier."

Ulrich's face was growing graver every second until he detonated. "_What are you doing here?!_"

Suddenly Janika looked ashamed. "I...uh...I just wanted to play."

"What were you _thinking?!_" he yelled. "This is _not_ a _game!_"

She started back as though slapped. "But...the cards and the life points and those monsters... I thought this was just some kind of... Sorry."

Aelita stepped past Ulrich who was rigid with rage and placed her hand on Janika's arm. "We are in trouble. Someone is trying to destroy us and I need to stop him. Help us or you will have to leave."

(V)

Jeremy sighed. He hated to do this. The girl would wake up and remember nothing as soon as Aelita fixed the Tower. She had managed to get herself into Lyoko (no easy feat) and even destroyed some of X.A.N.A.'s monsters in the last few minutes. She really was powerful, but that might also spell destructive.

She could crash the whole system if she felt like it. A hacker who wasn't exactly one of the gang might not have much patience for what they did. She might not like them and be bitter about the whole episode. After all, Janika stole first and didn't bother asking questions. She was just plain trouble for them.

His phone rang. "Yumi?"

"Where are you guys? I've been waiting for fifteen minutes!" She sounded really ticked off.

"Sorry. We found that girl who stole files from my computer. She's in Lyoko right now, but X.A.N.A. activated a Tower at the same time. You think you can make it?"

"She did _what?_"

"I'll explain later. Just get over here and I'll get you there."

"I'm on my way. It would be nice to get a head's up next time, though."

Jeremy heaved a large sigh as he hung up and turned around. "Huh? What the—" He looked at the empty spot where the laptop should have been. "I could have sworn I left it right _here_. It couldn't have walked off by itself."

A thought occurred to him.

The screen showed his friends drawing close to the loco Tower. Jeremy was frantic. "Guys! X.A.N.A. may have stolen Janika's laptop. I don't know where it went, but it can't be a good thing."

"Stole her _laptop_?" Odd sounded confused. "What for? And _how?_ It's not like laptops have legs."

(V)

Yumi stomped into the factory and pressed the button for the elevator. They could have at least called. Boys. Always thinking they could handle everything without any help.

She stepped into the lift and entered the code. It started moving. And what was X.A.N.A. up to? Something was fishy. She just didn't know exactly what.

Yumi pitched to her knees as the elevator ground to a shuddering halt. Her suspicions were aroused and she called Jeremy again. He answered on the first ring. "Yeah?"

"The elevator stopped on me."

"Well, Janika's laptop is missing."

"Whose laptop?"

"Our resident hacker's. The point is that I don't know where it went or what X.A.N.A. wants with it."

"He might have tapped into the electrical system."

"No. I entered protective codes into it so he couldn't do anything from the inside out, which means he must have found a way to mess with it from the outside in. Yumi, get out of there! If the elevator's stuck, that means he's after you!"

"I'm leaving right now!"

She scrambled up the side and managed to grab the emergency exit's handle. With a little more strength, the girl finally hoisted herself out of the elevator and grabbed the ladder rung. A thought occurred to Yumi: what if X.A.N.A. was trying to prevent her from getting to Lyoko? In which case that meant _Jeremy_ was in trouble, not her!


	6. Fangs

**1-6: Fangs**

**What would you do if you could hardly stand?**

(((-6-)))

The shaking was getting worse. Odd seemed to have the best footing, but even he couldn't stand very well. He grabbed Aelita's arm as she was about to fall off the platform. There was no way they would be able to fight any monsters under these conditions.

"Jeremy, there is _no_ possible way we're going to be able to reach the Tower!" Ulrich cried in exasperation. "We can hardly balance!" He leaned against a boulder and nearly fell on his face as another pulsation wave rocked the ground.

"I can't help if I don't know exactly what's going on in there. Oh no! Hornets at 12 o'clock!"

"We can't fight them!" Ulrich yelled, falling to his knees.

"You don't have any choice!" Jeremy yelled back.

The bugs swarmed toward them, stingers aimed, when suddenly three throwing stars took them all out! Everyone looked up as Janika let out a whoop. They had thought she was right behind them.

"The trees don't shake. I thought you might like to know before you fell into that oblivion down there." She dropped to the ground and gave each of them a pair of stars or shurikens, retrieving the ones she had thrown. They looked at her without a word and started climbing.

Janika hadn't lied. Only a little ways above the floor, the trees stopped shaking. They seemed to have roots in some other place that kept them stationary. The shurikens worked well, and soon all four found themselves above the leaves. A strange network of branches made clear paths through the treetops and Aelita spotted the malfunctioning Tower instantly.

"There it is. I have to get inside."

Odd wondered about the place. "Did you know about this, Aelita?"

"Yes, but I had nothing to climb with, so it was very difficult to get here," she answered practically.

They ran along the interwoven paths toward the Tower's spire. A giant Megatank appeared suddenly and started barreling straight at them along the trail!

"Whoa!" Odd understated. "How did that thing get up here?"

"Who cares? It's ready to blast!"

(V)

Jeremy rubbed his temples. Not a Megatank! He began typing away at the keys, oblivious to everything around him, which was a bad move. Something seized his leg and bit down hard. He yelped and jumped away from the computer. There in front of him was a snake!

It had gray, metallic scales and the stripe along its back bore a striking resemblance to the outer cover of Janika's laptop. Its mouth opened wide, revealing two deadly fangs. Jeremy tried to run, but he couldn't feel his left leg. It collapsed under his weight and dragged him down. The snake slithered stealthily toward him, hissing with pleasure.

Suddenly the door opened. Yumi came inside and looked up. She took everything in with a glance before grabbing a conveniently-placed metal bar off to one side and charging at the snake with a yell. The creature tried to flee, but the bar caught it squarely on the side, throwing it into the elevator shaft. It disappeared into the darkness.

Yumi ran to Jeremy. "Are you all right? I wasn't sure, but I thought you would be X.A.N.A.'s logical choice to get to first."

The blonde boy opened his eyes, clearly trying to mask the pain. "I guess X.A.N.A. has a few tricks I didn't expect. I think it poisoned me. My leg won't move."

**The title kinda gave the ending away, but I enjoyed making Jeremy flinch.**


	7. Left Behind

**1-7: Left Behind**

**Not that! _Anything_ but that! But how did X.A.N.A. get the doggone thing up there?**

(((-7-)))

The Megatank took aim. Everyone waited to see which way it would fire. As the monster's center appeared, they leaped out of the way. All but Janika, who didn't know what to expect.

The burst of energy caught her hard in the midsection. She cried out, her face contorted in pain. Odd flew past her in a bound, firing arrows as he went. The Megatank wasn't prepared for the barrage and perished in a fiery explosion for that mistake.

Ulrich rushed to her. She couldn't keep the pain out of her voice. "I didn't know what it felt like until just now." She stared nervously at them. "What happens if I lose all my life points?"

"You'll materialize back home. It's one heck of a trip, though, so I wouldn't recommend it," Odd supplied.

Janika looked down at her spotted tail as she rubbed her middle. "Thank you for killing it."

"You're welcome."

The young samurai helped her to her feet. "Maybe you should stay behind. You've helped us, but now it would probably be best for you to rest here."

She nodded miserably. "I wish..." Janika stopped and cleared her throat. She turned to Aelita. "I noticed you don't seem to have a weapon. Take this." She handed the virtual girl a shuriken.

Aelita took it. "I appreciate it."

"Don't thank me until it saves you." The teenage girl swallowed forcefully and gave a half-hearted smile. "See you on the other side. Don't wait up for me."

Reluctantly, the three teammates left her behind.

(V)

Yumi rushed to her friend's side, worried. "Do you feel ok?" she asked, dropping the bar.

"If I did I would be standing up right now. Don't pester me. I just feel a bit tired." He pushed weakly at her.

"Not good, Jeremy. Sit still. I'll put my backpack under your head."

He chuckled dryly. "I guess your textbooks _would_ be softer than the floor. Yeah, soft..." His head lolled to one side and he stopped moving.

"Jeremy?" He was out cold, his pulse slow and his breathing irregular. She shook his shoulder, but there was no response. "Don't do this to me! Wake up!" She didn't know what to _do!_

Yumi looked around as she heard something like metal sliding against metal. She stood up and spun about. A pair of wicked scarlet eyes glared out from the inky shadows in the corner where the green glow of the hologram couldn't reach.

It was back.

She froze, paralyzed with fright. If it had poisoned Jeremy without any qualms, then there was no doubt it would do the same to her in a heartbeat.

X.A.N.A.'s creature slithered toward the globe of Lyoko and reared up to reach the sphere. Yumi snapped out of her lethargy and grabbed a chair. The snake's eyes narrowed as the foolish girl tried to herd it away.

"If you do anything to them..." She left the threat incomplete. X.A.N.A. could fill in the blanks. He was smart enough.

Yumi swung the chair and struck the tile where it had been a second earlier. The snake was deadly quick! As she tried to recover from the lunge, fangs pierced her calf. The pain was so intense that she dropped her only weapon. With a shout, she grabbed the metal snake's tail and yanked it away. She bit back a louder cry as its teeth tore away from her flesh. It flew across the room and slammed up against the wall.

Dragging one leg, she managed to reach the computer. "Guys, we have a real problem here. Hurry up! Jeremy is seriously hurt and I just got bitten."

"Yumi, you go bitten?" Ulrich's voice came over. "By what?"

"Janika's laptop. X.A.N.A.'s taken control of it. Yaaahh!" She leaped up as the snake struck at her from behind but her leg slowed her down. "_Now_ would be a good time to deactivate the Tower, Aelita!"

Yumi jumped over the creature and staggered as fast as she could to the far side of the room. She hoped it wouldn't take too long.


	8. Memory

**1-8: Memory**

(((-8-)))

"Janika's laptop is biting Yumi?" Odd laughed.

Ulrich glared at his friend. "Nothing X.A.N.A. does is funny!"

"I dunno. That teddy bear that tried to destroy the city was a bit—"

"_Odd!_ I'm warning you! Now is not the time."

Aelita was almost directly above the Tower, but she fell back as a Krab exploded from the foliage right in front of her.

"Aelita!" both boys called together. They were too far away!

Instead of fleeing, the strawberry-haired girl's eyes grew fierce with rage. "No!" she screamed and lashed out with the shuriken in an unpracticed motion. The Krab stumbled as one leg was severed, then lost its footing and tumbled to the ground far below.

"Great job, Aelita, but how are you going to reach the Tower from up here?" Ulrich wondered as he and Odd caught up with her.

She winked. "Watch."

With a running leap, she cleared the tree branches and fell down toward the red-rimmed Tower's spire. Her body melted through the wall as she was about to crash into the earth, and she landed lightly on her feet, safely inside. Aelita proceeded to deactivate everything X.A.N.A. had done.

(V)

Yumi saw the snake freeze, its mouth open wide to take another bite out of her. She breathed a sigh of relief as the past enveloped the world...

The bell rang for Chemistry to let out. Jeremy, Odd and Ulrich filed out of the room and looked around the hall.

"Do you think she might have made a good ally?" the computer nerd wondered.

"We didn't know anything about her in the first place," Ulrich explained. "And besides, she _did_ steal from you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But still...it would have been nice to have someone else, even if she was just a hacker looking for some fun." He sighed resolutely. "Let's go find Yumi and I'll tell you guys about her snake-laptop."

"What did that weird X.A.N.A.-dude do to my computer?"

The boys spun around and saw Janika standing right behind them, her dark braid pulled over one shoulder.

"I overheard that girl say something about it, but she didn't exactly clarify what was going on."

Ulrich could only gape at her. "You remember?"

"Why would I forget? What was that flash of light, and how did we get back here at school?" She held up her hand as they all began to speak at once. "Wait, wait wait! Can we just start over? I'm Janika, and I really want to help you guys."

**Okay, so how was it? All of you that read my story must provide feedback, and none of that "Oh it was good. See ya" stuff. I would also like to give credit to writer Frank Verderosa (for proving there is such a thing as good fanfiction) and my little sister (for always making me hide my fanfics so I never embarrassed myself by submitting the stupidest ones).**


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